Dutch parliament chairwoman urges Twitter to prevent threatening messages on platform

On Wednesday, the chairwoman of the Dutch parliament urged Twitter to take action to deter threats made against the nation’s legislators from being posted on the social media site. Vera Bergkamp made public a letter she wrote to the global affairs division of the American firm expressing “deep concern” about recent tweets that included death threats and “calls for violence and even murder” directed at members of parliament. She tweeted, “These are probably punishable under Dutch criminal law.” Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, an anti-Islamic party in the Netherlands, has received many death threats on Twitter for more than ten years. In October 2022, billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter. Shortly after, he immediately let go of employees, including ones in charge of content moderation, in favour of more automated methods. Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has said he bought Twitter to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division. “I understand Twitter works hard to minimize toxic and illegal content,” Bergkamp wrote. “Despite that I urge you to take immediate action to address this issue .. in order to protect our freedom of expression.” Requests for comment sent to Twitter’s press email and the company’s Global Affairs account were not immediately answered. Although she is not a member of parliament, the Netherlands’ Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag of the centre-left D-66 Party has also been subjected to online and offline threats. Last week, Kaag indicated she may consider quitting politics as a result, sparking a national discussion. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.